Spaghetti alle Vongole

Sir Eat Alot has ordered for pasta again… Miss Cook Alot is there to satisfy all his whims and fancies… I decided to cook a quick and flavourful pasta with live clams for that fresh taste of the sea… Quite brave of me as my first try with ‘la la’ was rather disappointing, probably owing to the prolonged soaking and washing… Or maybe they were just plainly not fresh, I don’t know… 

So for the easy meal above, I cooked the clams with lots of garlic and crushed chilli with finely diced tomato and chopped parsley, laced with some white wine… Then I tossed some perfectly cooked spaghetti with the sauce and garnish with more chopped Italian parsley… Eat it as it is SANS parmesan cheese and this dish is joining my list of favourites…!!!

Cost/serving: RM4.50

Claypot Drunken Fish

Though I love all types of fish, I seldom buy them unless I go to the local market… It is quite hard to get really fresh fish at the supermarket… Furthermore, I am often confused with the large selection out there so I normally stick to a few common ones that I can recognize… The recipe below is a healthy and easy way to cook fish like tilapia…

 Claypot Drunken Fish

Ingredients:

1 tilapia fish (approximately 600g)

3 stalks spring onion

5cm knob ginger, sliced

2 tblsp oil, 1 tsp sesame oil

Seasoning:

3 tblsp shao xing wine

1 tblsp oyster sauce

1 tblsp light soya sauce

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

150ml water

shredded spring onion and coriander leaves

Method:

1. Heat up 2 tblsp oil in a claypot. Saute ginger and spring onion until fragrant. Add in fish and fry for 2 min (Do not turn). Add in seasoning, cover with lid and simmer for 15 min or until cooked.

2. Remove claypot from heat and sprinkle spring onion and coriander on top. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Cost/serving: RM1.50

Tarragon Chicken with Roast Potatoes and Asparagus

I am a big fan of Laura Calder, I think she is hot!!!… Her show on AFC channel, French Food at Home is one of my favourites… I admire her style and skills as she is able to make complicated food look so simple to make!!!… I happened to watch her make ‘Tarragon Chicken’ and ‘Squished potatoes’ one day and attempted to recreate the recipe for dinner that night… I tried my best to remember the ingredients and steps… To my surprise, the dishes turned out well… I was ecstatic my memory served me well only to find out that her recipes are available online through Food Network Canada… Silly me, LOL…

This is my first time attempting French-style cooking… I have always thought that chefs specializing in French cooking use butter and cream like they’re free… I have been trying to find substitutes but till then, an occasional meal like this makes life purrrfecttt…

Cost/serving: RM 4.50

Noodles with Fried Meat Sauce (Zha Jiang Mien)

The westerners have pasta with bolognese sauce, we have ‘Zha Jiang Mein’… Much like its western counterpart, the Chinese version is as tasty and easy to prepare… This dish is also popular in Korea where black bean sauce is used and it’s called ‘Ja Jang Myun’… I have never tasted the Korean version but I was told it’s slightly sweeter… Although the name of this dish suggests that it is fried, it’s actually not oily, just the way it is cooked… With the julienned vegetables served as topping, this dish is actually quite healthy and balanced…

In China, the noodles are made fresh although a variety of noodles go well with the sauce… Personally, I love it with dried wheat / longevity noodles… I don’t have any longevity noodles in my kitchen so I used spaghettini instead…

 

Noodles with Fried Meat Sauce (Zha Jiang Mien)

Ingredients:

200g noodles (dried wheat noodles or pasta)

200g ground meat (best is slightly fatty pork but I use lean)

1 packet pickled mustard, chopped (char choy)

3 pcs dried shiitake mushroom, soaked and sliced

1 cucumber, 1 carrot and 2 red chillies, julienned

Seasoning:

1 tblsp garlic, chopped

1/2 tblsp ginger, chopped

2 tblsp chili bean paste (tau ban cheong) or soya bean paste

1 tblsp shiao shing wine

1 tblsp hoisin sauce

1/2 tblsp sugar

500 ml chicken stock or water

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp dark soya sauce

Method:

1. Cook noodles in boiling water according to manufacturer’s instruction. Rinse the noodles under cold tap water and set aside.

2. Heat up 2 tblsp oil in a wok. Sauté garlic, ginger and mushroom until fragrant. Add in ground meat and stir-fry, then add in pickled mustard.

3. Add seasoning and stock. Cook until sauce is thick and dish out. Place a bed of noodles on a serving plate, top with enough fried sauce and julienned vegetables. Serve hot.

Serves 3.

Cost/serving: RM 3.50

Fried Rice with Nyonya Fried Chicken

It’s been a week or two since I last cooked as I was out of town… Being eager to spend some time in the kitchen again, I took out my entire collection of recipe books and browsed through each book… Just love buying and reading ‘em and then drool all over the pages!!!… More often than not, the books will end up in the library rather than the kitchen…

I’ve been dying to try out a fried chicken recipe from a local cookbook but I dread the cleaning up afterwards!!!…  Oil splatters on the kitchen tabletop and all over the floor… It’s a nightmare!!!… Never mind about that… I have to satisfy my cravings…

So I made the fried chicken and served with some fried rice… I threw in some stir fried peppers to make a balanced meal… Well, not exactly the best side dish but that will do as peppers are the only vegetable I have in the fridge… Here’s the recipe from the book…

Nyonya Fried Chicken (Inche Kebin)

Ingredients:

3 whole chicken legs, chopped into bite-size pieces

oil for frying

Marinade:

2 tblsp curry powder

1 tblsp worcestershire sauce

1/2 tblsp light soya sauce

2 tblsp ginger juice

1 tsp salt

2 tblsp sugar

2 pieces fermented red bean curd

1 tsp pepper

1 tblsp corn flour

1 tblsp plain flour

50ml thick coconut milk

Method:

1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add in chicken and mix well. Marinate for 4hrs, preferably overnight.

2. Heat up oil in wok and deep-fry chicken pieces until almost cooked. Dish and drain.

3. Reheat oil and deep-fry chicken pieces until golden brown and crispy. Drain and serve.

Serves 4.

Cost/serving: RM 2

Simple Fried Rice

Ingredients:

4 bowls of cooked rice

4 shallots, chopped

100g mixed vegetables

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp salt

1 tblsp light soya sauce

1 tblsp oyster sauce

dash of pepper

1. Heat up 2 tblsp oil in a wok. Saute shallots until fragrant and add in egg. Add a dash of soya sauce and pepper to the eggs and scramble till cook.

2. Add in rice and seasoning and fry until aromatic. Lastly, add in mixed vegetables. Serve hot.

Serves 4.

Cost/serving: RM 1.00

Cost of meal: RM 3.80

Lasagna bolognese

Lasagna is a popular baked pasta dish that is made of layers of pasta with different types of filling… Some delicious filling include a meat sauce (like the one I’m making), spinach, sausage, pumpkin, eggplant etc… It takes a bit of effort to make lasagna but it’s definitely worthwhile… I am feeling a bit more ‘hardworking’ today so I plan to turn my bolognese sauce to lasagna…

Lasagna is not an everyday food as it is quite rich and filling… I am exploring recipes for a low fat version using cottage cheese and till I find one I like, I’m happy with my usual recipe…  The total time required to make this lovely dish from scratch range from 2-3 hours (including baking time)… My lasagna layers were made of no-cook lasagna sheets, meat sauce, béchamel sauce, parmesan cheese and some low fat cheddar on top of the layers…

 

I baked the lasagna for 45mins until golden brown and the whole kitchen smelled like bakery!!!…

I served the lasagna with some tossed salad in balsamic vinaigrette… Yummy!!!… Now, I better go to the gym tomorrow…

Cost/serving: Between RM4.50-5.50

Italian Classics II: Bolognese Sauce

Has anyone NOT eaten spaghetti bolognese before???… Arguably the most recognized Italian dish around the world, spaghetti bolognese or ragù alla bolognese in Italian is strangely much less popular in it's country of origin, Italy… This sauce originates from Bologna, Italy where it’s traditionally served with fresh tagliatelle or lasagna…

There’re many bolognese recipes around but a good one always call for long simmering to get a rich red sauce… Some recipes call for an hour of low heat simmering and some recommend 3-4 hours or up to 8 hours for best results… A combination of meat are normally used in the sauce but chicken generally requires less cooking… As I can’t cook beef at home, I normally go for a combination of pork and chicken for this lovely sauce… For convenience, I cook this sauce in big quantity and freeze in portions so that I can make a pasta bake or lasagna anytime… Over the years, I’ve tried many different recipes but I like the following as it is a traditional recipe from an Italian…

Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients:

500g minced beef (I use pork)

300g minced pork shoulder (I use chicken)

50g tomato paste

1 onion, diced small

3 carrot, diced small

5 celery, diced small

3 cloves garlic, chopped

ground nutmeg

50g Italian parsley, finely chopped

125g pancetta, chopped (or bacon)

2 x 400g cans of whole plum tomatoes, chopped

2 cups red wine (can substitute with stock)

125ml olive oil

freshly grated parmesan cheese

salt & black pepper

 

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and stir over high heat for 5 mins until soft. Add the pancetta and cook for 2 mins.

2. Add in ground meat and a pinch of salt, black pepper and nutmeg, brown for 10 mins and stir occasionally.

3. Add in the red wine and let it cook until the liquid thicken (about 6min). Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 1-3 hours, stirring occasionally. (I simmer for 45mins as I don’t want to cook the chicken for too long. Try to stew for as long as you can with beef, it really makes the difference!!!).

5. Season with salt, pepper and add in parsley. Serve with cooked pasta and parmesan cheese.

Serves 10 or more.

Cost/serving: RM3.50